Sunday, June 10, 2012

Videonow FX Player



I can't believe they are still shipping these with rotating media.

I have a product today that can do the same thing with Flash for a fraction of the cost even in low volume.
If anyone is interested please contact me. 


Videonow FX Player   uses a small proprietary CD format. 

Screen measuring 1-1/2 by 2 inches   ( this is a 2.5 inch diagonal screen)



Content 


See this link:



From August 2004
http://www.videotechnology.com/old0804.html

http://www.videotechnology.com/videonow/ 


Hasbro VideoNow PVD now in Color



Hasbro's VIDEONOW Player has sold more than 1.2 million VIDEONOW personal video players and more than 4 million VIDEONOW personal video discs.Hasbro just released their new Color player, it retails for around $75 with disks selling from $8 to $16 each. They now even have special little CD jewel boxes for there disks. These disks are just standardaudio CD's, and at least their older b/w version just recorded in the RED-BOOK Audio format where one of the stereo channels contained uncompressed grey scale video. I couldn't believe it worked as well as it did, it was cheap, simple and KISS (Keep it Simple and Stupid), I just can't help admired that design philosophy.

According to the Hasbro web site FAQ Each 4.25 inch VIDEONOW COLOR Personal Video Disc contains over 25 uninterrupted minutes of content/programming. 4.25 inch is a odd size indeed, since most CD's are 4.75 inches or 3 inches for the mini CD's. If someone can confirm this please drop me a note in the chat room.
The player is 4.75 X 5.75 inches and only 1.25 inches thick.
The Color player has a 1.85" x 1.45" backlit color LCD screen with a resolution of 216-by-160 pixels, a built-in speaker and a headphone jack.
This is up from the older VideoNow black and white that had a 1.7" x 1.3" LCD screen with 16 levels of greyscale and 80 x 80 screen resol ution
Yet no one is following this and few have ever even heard of it, because Hasbro is a kids toy maker and their player doesn't use sophisticated compression or special disks. In my option they are doing it right and gaining market share while enhancing their product based when they can take advantage of predictable sales volume. Compared to companies with Portable Media Players (past article) like Archos, RCA Lyra, Creative Labs NOMAD, Sony MSV-A1, GoVideo, ZVUE ,AVIAS or Gizmondo, the Hasbro product has a real shot at setting the standards in the next few years.
See my past article on the older Black and White version: Hasbro VideoNow PVD - Personal Video Disk Player 



Photo taken from a Walmart Shelf

Hasbro's VIDEONOW Player, Ranked #1 in the Toy Industry, Announces Next Major Innovation - VIDEONOW COLOR! Link here
For more photos and info goto the VideoNow player page

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